Shenzen: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals with a straight-game victory, while India’s hopes in the men’s singles category ended with Lakshya Sen’s first-round elimination from the China Masters badminton tournament on Wednesday. Satwik and Chirag, who were runners-up at the Hong Kong Open the previous week, secured a 24-22 21-13 win over Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap in 42 minutes, maintaining their unbeaten head-to-head record against the duo. However, Lakshya, also a recent second-place finisher, lost to Toma Junior Popov with scores of 11-21 10-21 in a 30-minute match, concluding India’s men’s singles campaign following Ayush Shetty’s earlier defeat.
The mixed doubles team of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also exited the tournament after losing to second-seeded local favorites Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping with scores of 19-21 13-21. Satwik and Chirag faced a challenge in the opening game, which was closely contested, but they ultimately secured it in 21 minutes. They took an early lead in the second game, though Arif and Yap managed to tie the score at 5-5. The Indian pair then pulled ahead to establish an 11-6 advantage that the Malaysians could not overcome. In the women’s singles, P V Sindhu won her opening match on Monday and advanced to the pre-quarterfinals, where she will compete against sixth-seeded Thai player Pornpawee Chochuwong next.